There's a mountain and it's mighty high
U cannot see the top unless U fly
And there's a molehill of proven ground
There ain't no where 2 go if U hang around

Everybody wants 2 sell what's already been sold
Everybody wants 2 tell what's already been told
What's the use of money if U ain't gonna break the mold?
Even at the center of fire there is cold
All that glitters ain't gold
All that glitters ain't gold, mmm

There's an ocean of despair
There are people livin' there
They're unhappy each and every day
But hell is not fashion so what U tryin' 2 say?

Everybody wants 2 sell what's already been sold
Everybody wants 2 tell what's already been told
What's the use of money if U ain't gonna break the mold?
Even at the center of fire there is cold
All that glitters ain't gold, no no
All that glitters ain't gold, no no

There's a lady, 99 years old
If she led a good life, heaven takes her soul
Now that's a theory and if U don't wanna know
Step aside and make a way 4 those who want 2 go

Everybody wants 2 sell what's already been sold (Sold)
Everybody wants 2 tell what's already been told (Told)
What's the use of bein' young if U ain't gonna get old? (Old)
Even at the center of fire there is cold (Cold)
All that glitters ain't gold
Alright

All that glitters,
all that glitters,
all that glitters..
ain't gold

U are now an official member of the New Power Generation
Welcome 2 The Dawn

For a second there, I thought you were gonna ask what that lyrics meant

Ah man, this is my song

To me, it is THE song.

My favorite of all the songs Prince has done. It's so beautiful and not only that, but something about it always helps me when I'm feeling down.

Rightly said:

How can anyone say such a thing about a song that had gotten me through some pretty bad times?

It's seen me at my happiest and at times when I was feeling
Check my siggy if u don't believe me

I Love this song...What a great spirit it contains in a timeless fashion...

My favorite line is, "Step aside and make a way 4 those who want to go."

Tame said:

mine also,and the guitar solo is...wow..

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

OK

I think I´m in the minority here I never did get the whole Gold album thing
I´ll definately give it a new listen

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

The keyboard riff is pretty dreamy to me. I love watching Mr. Hayes play it. I still haven't figured out exactly how to play it though

What kind of hippie lovin' bullshit is this?

Imago said:

the kind i love

Tame said:

EmeraldSkies said:

First verse. Anyone explain it?

iloveannie said:

shoot, I was looking through all this stuff that I wrote down. I hadn't broken the song down verse by verse yet

But I'll give it a shot anyhow.

There's a mountain and it's mighty high
U cannot see the top unless U fly
And there's a molehill of proven ground
There ain't no where 2 go if U hang around

The mountain is your destination, the ultimate goal you want to achieve. You need to work in order to see the top, to achieve your goal and flying implies that you can't get there the conveniental way (i.e. climbing).
And basically if you hang around, you won't achieve your goals. You have to get your feet wet because they're not going to happen for you unless you work for them.

that's the best I can do for now. But I pretty much know this song inside and out

I love this song!

I think Prince is singing about reaching for your goals and having a little imagination and inspiration.

He's telling all the non-believers to step out of the way.

iloveannie said:

Spiritual ascension. One cannot reach the greatest heights of spiritual experience through any mundane way, such as walking.



One must let go of the ego (sense of "I") in order to reach the mountain top, otherwise, as long as you cling to the idea "you", there is no where for you to go.

Rightly said:

I wouldn't go that far, but it's certainly cheesy and overblown. It's dated terribly IMO.

LittleRedCorvette said:

now, there's an insightful answer for ya!!!

NouveauDance said:

if you don't count jughead and wedding feast as songs
(because they're naught but jingles)
then what would you nominate as the worst song?
Surely Gold and Graffiti Bridge are way up there in the top 5?

little red corvette pointed out the good intentions of the song
but P. missed the mark because of his exessive cheesiness.

Plus, I hate the idea of a sweet herafter. (which is in there)

song.

Yep, he says
Heaven
[Edited 9/9/08 15:52pm]

I believe it says 'Heaven is not fashion'.....

Strutter said:

I just listened to that one verse

ummm....


it kinda sounds like that's what he says.
The lyrics in the album booklet do quote it as "hell is not fashion" and the official site for Prince-related lyrics dtt-lyrics.com has the same thing.

Either its a mistake on his part or theirs
or maybe its because he's trying to say something like there is good & bad in all of us and there's a thin line between love & hate (as shown by the previous track).

This makes me rethink things a bit cuz I consider myself an expert on this song because this song knows me pretty well cuz it always know how to make me feel better after a bad day

Strutter said:

sure isnt

pepper7 said:

sure is

EmeraldSkies said:

i love how he counts it off right b4 the solo...

1..2...1...2... 3...

I think I like the lyrics more than the music - the music itself is not his best but pleasant enough but the lyrics are worth better music I feel - but thats just my opinion and I love listening to it, just not of his best in my opinoin.

diamondpearl1 said:

gotta love a good countdown

Just like pork is the other white meat, Gold is the other Purple Rain.

All kidding aside, Gold is a powerful song with spiritual lyrics and epic vocals and music.

"Step aside and make a way for those who want to go"

I always thought the first verse was directed toward WB and is about his battles in the music business. He even read the verse as the opening of his acceptance speech for an award on Celebrate the Soul in '94. Then, he went into a diatribe about Warners and artistic freedom.

So, I've always thought the "molehill of proven ground" line was his way of saying that having artistic freedom and challenging himself musically is better than repeating his past successes for the sake of making hits. That ties in to the "sell what's already been sold" and "tell what's already been told" lines as well.

--
[Edited 9/10/08 18:57pm]